newbie, bit of advice

I have always wanted to get into trading, despite knowing f all about it. I have been finished uni 2 years and now that I've seen sense and realised professional poker isn't a very secure route to go down, I am now on a serious job hunt!

Obviously the fact I dont have a clue how to trade means I cant consider it for the time being, but what do you guys suggest? Get a job in Finance and learn to trade in my spare time, and then maybe apply to work at a prop house or have a go myself? I have spent some time reading up on the internet, but find that a lot of the info already assumes you have a decent amount of knowledge - can anyone recommend any good resources?

Thanks

mishdog said:

I have always wanted to get into trading, despite knowing f all about it. I have been finished uni 2 years and now that I've seen sense and realised professional poker isn't a very secure route to go down, I am now on a serious job hunt!

Obviously the fact I dont have a clue how to trade means I cant consider it for the time being, but what do you guys suggest? Get a job in Finance and learn to trade in my spare time, and then maybe apply to work at a prop house or have a go myself? I have spent some time reading up on the internet, but find that a lot of the info already assumes you have a decent amount of knowledge - can anyone recommend any good resources?

Thanks

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this and forex factory are great resources to learn.Whatever you do,do not spend money untill you have4 checked it out properley

mishdog said:

I have spent some time reading up on the internet, but find that a lot of the info already assumes you have a decent amount of knowledge - can anyone recommend any good resources?

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Might I humbly suggest checking out my book, The Essentials of Trading. It was written specifically for folks like yourself who are starting basically from nothing. I was working with university finance students when I developed it. They had an understanding of markets, but really knew nothing about how trading worked.

Just do what ever job you fancy and read,read,read as much as you can on trading. Like others have said demo trade as much as possible and document so you find your own weaknesses. Do not underestimate the psychological element of trading and try not to get drawn into looking for the holygrail

Good luck and may you be very successful.

Thanks for the responses and advice.

bangkoker said:

Just do what ever job you fancy and read,read,read as much as you can on trading. Like others have said demo trade as much as possible and document so you find your own weaknesses. Do not underestimate the psychological element of trading and try not to get drawn into looking for the holygrail

Good luck and may you be very successful.

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Do you think I would be much better off getting a financial/banking job if I have the intention of perhaps applying for a trainee trading job at some point? As opposed to just getting a job I enjoy, learning how to trade on the side, and then not having the backup of being able to demonstrate relevant experience on my cv.

Do you think I would be much better off getting a financial/banking job if I have the intention of perhaps applying for a trainee trading job at some point? As opposed to just getting a job I enjoy, learning how to trade on the side, and then not having the backup of being able to demonstrate relevant experience on my cv.[/QUOTE]


Hard to answer, you could say that working in something vaguely financial may make you appear more interested in trading to a prospective firms. I don't see that work for a financial company / bank will make any practical difference as there is very little linked to trading within these institutes. I think it would only be perception if you worked in media/advertising or whatever a prospective trading firm might wonder why it was such a massive departure. Only my view.:|

Hard to answer, you could say that working in something vaguely financial may make you appear more interested in trading to a prospective firms. I don't see that work for a financial company / bank will make any practical difference as there is very little linked to trading within these institutes. I think it would only be perception if you worked in media/advertising or whatever a prospective trading firm might wonder why it was such a massive departure. Only my view.:|[/QUOTE]

interesting. Although I thought most people that get into trading get a job in banking first of all? I also thought that is the advised route..

What's wrong with professional poker? (Unless you're this guy 0

Maybe you could do a poll, ask people who work in trading (I assume you mean employed and not trading their own accounts) their background. I was only pointing out that I am not sure trading is necessary the same thing as working for a financial institution unless you are linked to the trading arm.

http://www.pokerprolabs.com/Bangkoker/ongame.aspx

p.s a bit cruel Arabian. I've lost interest in poker a bit but think I should get back into multi-tables, if I was a full time trader I may have the time. Oh well one day it will all come together

mishdog said:

I have always wanted to get into trading, despite knowing f all about it. I have been finished uni 2 years and now that I've seen sense and realised professional poker isn't a very secure route to go down, I am now on a serious job hunt!

Obviously the fact I dont have a clue how to trade means I cant consider it for the time being, but what do you guys suggest? Get a job in Finance and learn to trade in my spare time, and then maybe apply to work at a prop house or have a go myself? I have spent some time reading up on the internet, but find that a lot of the info already assumes you have a decent amount of knowledge - can anyone recommend any good resources?

Thanks

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Hey Mishdog,

Have a read of Pozzy's journal: http://www.trade2win.com/boards/trading-journals/88320-my-journal-prop-house.html

He's got a bit of information in there about how he became a professional trader, but I don't remember him mentioning what his career was before trading. I don't think it was that relevant.

Working inside the banking industry will help you understand something of the mechanics of the banking sector, or maybe the money market and interbanking if you specialise. On the other hand, get into farming if you want to trade grains, IT if you want to trade technology stocks, any specialist sector knowledge will stand you in good stead for making money on the markets. I imagine that working on the complaints handling desk of a broker or spread better would be the most valuable insight that anybody could gain. Hmm... Now there's a thought, I've never done that, maybe it'd be worth a shot for the lessons I'd learn.

Good luck,

Sal

thanks for the replies. oh and mr arabian, thats not my account ! I play cash on ipoker & ongame, not $0.10 sng's

I've actually skimmed over that thread before Sal, but since I didnt even understand the stuff he was posting re trading, I gave up right away. Need to learn first! Although I may look over it again now to find the parts where he talks about being a trader.

Have either of you two traded a bit yourselves?

Hi Mishdog,

I'm a newbie to trading, although I have gambled on equities before. I've had amazing good luck gambling on the share prices of industries I've been working in. I used to base my share buying impulses on the gut instinct of "that company isn't going bankrupt, so they must be underpriced". As it happened, I got stung a few times when some did go bankrupt, but I won big on some of those that didn't. To date I'm about £300k in profit, my advice is don't rush, really, don't rush.

I'm learning the art/science of trading now, rather than gambling. Research costs nothing but time, success is a slow game, loss is a very fast one.

Good luck,

Sal

Cable Sal said:

Hi Mishdog,

I'm a newbie to trading, although I have gambled on equities before. I've had amazing good luck gambling on the share prices of industries I've been working in. I used to base my share buying impulses on the gut instinct of "that company isn't going bankrupt, so they must be underpriced". As it happened, I got stung a few times when some did go bankrupt, but I won big on some of those that didn't. To date I'm about £300k in profit, my advice is don't rush, really, don't rush.

I'm learning the art/science of trading now, rather than gambling. Research costs nothing but time, success is a slow game, loss is a very fast one.

Good luck,

Sal

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my advice is don't rush, really, don't rush. - perhaps your advice should be DON'T GAMBLE :cheesy: